The digital health money mambo madness

The other day I attended another networking event for digital health geeks. This one was particularly different in that the co-working space where it was held actually had free parking and the bartender made a very tasty version of a cranberry colored Marguerita. Unfortunately, many things were the same, like people pitching their digital health products and services, duets doing the money mambo (I'm sure you know the steps) and a familiar chorus of "If only I can find a provider pilot partner".

The next time you go to one one of these, particularly when you run into the inevitably present cynical provacateur pushing back against your ideas, be sure you have the answer to the following questions:

1. How are you measuring patient/doctor experience?
2. How are you measuring patient/doctor engagement?
3. In addition to solving a clinical problem, what business problem are you solving, how and how much?
4. How are you translating outcomes to impact i.e creating user defined value?
5. What are the peculiarities of the sick care culture that are not transferable to other industries where the solution worked?
6. How high is your Net Promoter Score?
7. What is your business model and how many customers do you have to indicate some level of validation?
8. How will your "solution" improve workflow and what is economic value of the savings?
9. Will your solution, particularly one with a direct to patient-customer (B2C) model, disrupt of enhance clinician-patient communication and care coordination?
10. What's in it for the doctor?

Maybe you should take a moment to write down the answers and put them on the back of your business cards. That way, when someone pops the questions, you can just hand them the card and, while they are reading it, you can go back and get yourself another Marguerita.

Arlen Meyers, MD, MBA is the President and CEO of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs